Method of packaging



May 16, 1961 w. M. scHoLL METHOD OF' PACKAGING Filed May 9, 1958 v TIQJ I //y J s a '2 f /4 /7 8 4 United States Patent METHOD OF PACKAGING William M. Scholl, 211-213 W. Schiller St., Chicago, Ill. Filed May 9, 1958, Ser. No. 734,195

1 Claim. (Cl. 53-22) This invention relates to improvements in a method of packaging, and more particularly to an article package that exhibits the contents to the user in an attractive manner and which package is made by a method such that articles that could not be heretofore packaged' can now be readily packaged in an attractive manner, although the invention may have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

In the past, many and various types of attractive packages for articles have been developed, especially since the pleasing character of the package frequently is an important factor in the commercialization of the article, and that is particularly true when the article itself is of the same style and quality as competitive articles. One attractive type package is tbme so-called skin package, wherein a thermoplastic film or thin sheet is drawn around the article by a differential in pressure. In some cases, the heated plastic film or sheet may be forced over the article by a blast of air pressure on the outer side of the lm, and in other cases,.the film may be drawn onto and over the article by means of a vacuum on the inner side of the film. In other instances, a combination of both air pressure and vacuum might be used in the drawing of the film into conformity with whatever it covers. Heretofore, however, such packaging was limited to products that were materially hard or rigid, and soft products` sufficiently yieldable to be compressed or mis-shaped by the application of the film could not satisfactorily be so packaged. Yet it is desirable to package soft articles as well as hard articles in such a package without going to the expense of making a pre-formed box from thermoplastic or other transparent material.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide an economical yet highly attractive package for either soft or hard articles, and wherein a thermoplastic film is drawn into a predetermined shape to form a complete closure for the package but the lm is not in contact with the packaged article.

Another object of the instant invention resides in the provision of a package that may readily contain a soft article as well as a hard one, and wherein a base member is utilized having a frame thereon inside of which the article is disposed, and a plastic film overlies the frame above the article and is secured to the base member around the frame.

Another object of the instant invention is the provision of an attractive package wherein an article is disposed on a base member inside a frame which might be an economical section of an extruded tube, and a thermoplastic film overlies the frame out of contact with the article and is secured to the base member around the frame.

Still another object of the instant invention is the provision of a new and novel method of packaging articles.

Also an object of the instant invention is the provision ice of a method of packaging articles wherein an article is placed on a base member, a frame or wall is disposed about the article, and then a thermoplastic lm is drawn over the frame and secured to the base member by means of a pressure differential.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

In the drawings:

AFigure 1 is a plan View of a package embodying principles of the instant invention and made in accordance with the methods forming a part of this invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the structure of Figure 1, taken substantially as indicated by the line lI-II of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic showing in vertical section, illustrating the process of making the instant package; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, perspective view illustrating different forms of extrusions from which sections may be removed Vto provide frames utilized in the packages.

As shown in the drawings:

With reference now particularly to Figures l and 2, it will be seen that the embodiment of the instant invention selected for illustrative purposes comprises a backing member 1 which may be in the form of a at sheet of colored cardboard or the like, although any suitable material may be utilized. In a relatively wide marginal region, preferably all the way around, the backing member 1 is provided with numerous fine perforations as indicated at 2, although the perforations are preferably more numerous than can be illustrated with clarity in the drawings. As shown in a highly exaggerated fashion in Figures 2 and 3, the perforated marginal portion of the base member is preferably provided with an adhesive spread over the upper surface, designated by numeral 3, this adhesive spread being preferably of pressure-sensitive character, of transparent substance, and sufficiently thin and/ or located so as not to interfere with the passage of air through the apertures during the making of the package.

Disposed on the base member in an intermediate location, preferably inside the perforated marginal portion, is a wall or frame 4 and this may well be made of a thermoplastic material such as cellulose acetate. If so desired, the frame 4 may be secured edgewise on the base by a part of the adhesive 3 or in any other suitable manner, although in many instances it will not be necessary to secure the frame unless desired to facilitate speed in forming the package and to prevent any possible displacement of the frame vduring forming of the package. An article 5 to be packaged, which in most instances where such a frame as 4 is utilized will Abe a soft article,

is placed on the base member inside the frame 4, and if desired, the article may be attached to the base member in any suitable manner. Obviously, the manner of attachment will depend upon the particular character of the article.

A cover 6, which is preferably a thermoplastic film or thin sheet, extends over the top of the frame above the article 5 intimately downwardly over the side walls of the frame as indicated at 7, and is secured by the adhesive 3 to the perforated marginal portion of the base member 1, as indicated at 8. The cover film 6 is preferably of transparent material as illustrated so that the packaged article is plainly visible to the prospective customer while inside the package. It will be noted thatthe package is complete in its enclosing of the article, and it is necessary to cut or otherwise break the film-like cover 6 in order 'toremovethe article foruse.

Obviously, in a package of this kind the base member may` be madeof any desirable.size, larger or smaller than illustrated, the perforated/marginal portion Vmay be varied in width as desired, and any desired colors may beV utilized for the various parts of the package. It is also to be especially noted that regardless lof how soft or yielding the packaged article may be, lit is `notdistorted in the slightest from its normal shape, nor is it compressed to any degree, while contained within'the package above described. It will also be apparent that the package is box-like in character, and yet far more economical to produce than a pre-formed transparent box'or the like.

The package itself Yis set forth, described and'claimed in my copending applicationfentitled VArticle Package, tiled December 16, 1960, Serial No. 76,188, which is a division of the instant application.

Themethod of forming the package kis extremely simple and economical. As diagrammaticallyillustrated in Figure 3, a housing 9, shouldered as indicated at 10, and provided with an outlet conduit 11, may be utilized. The housing is, of course, of the'same bounding conguration as the base member 1 of the package. As shown, the base member .1 is first disposed on the shoulder 10 at the open mouth of the housing. 'I'he frame 4 and the article 5 are placed in position on the base member 1, and the thermoplastic iilm or thin sheet 6 is disposed adjacent the upper edge of the frame. VThe covering lm will, of course, be initially of greater area than the base member 1 because it extends downwardly over the outer side wall of the frame as well as completely covering the base member.

After the parts of the package have been'disposed as above outlined, it being assumed that the cover lm 6 has been pre-heated, a differential in pressureon opposite sides of the film is provided to draw the film against the upper edges of the frame, downwardly over the outer side wall of the frame, and against the exposed face of the base member carrying the adhesive 3 tothe position shown in Figure 2. This diiferential in pressure may be caused by a compressed air draft on the outer side of the pre-heated film 6, by vacuum within the housing 9 caused by suction throughthe outlet 11, the suction acting through the perforations in the base member 1, or by a combination of both forced air and suction as may be most expedient. In any event, the pre-heated and ductile film is almost instantaneously drawn into its ultimate shape and secured to the base member upon establishing the necessary pressure differential. Of course, without apertures in the base member inside the frame, the plastic lm will be stretched across the top of the frame as seen in Figure 2, but will not be drawn down inside the frame against the packaged article. However, a ne line of apertures may be left just inside the frame to cause a slight indentation in the part of the film overlying the frame, if so desired for decorative purposes. Obviously, numerous variations in the structure of the package will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

The frame itself might be a strip of any suitable material, but is preferably aA stripv of a thermoplastic material such as cellulose acetate, or some equivalent structure. Rather than shape the frame from strip or sheet material, in most cases it will be more economical to provide the frame by merely severing a section of the desired width from a tube of extruded plastic material. In Figure 4, I have illustrated several such tubes, a round tube being indicated at 12,.a square tube by numeral 13, and an octagonal tube by numeral 14. This is indicative of the fact that the frame may have any desired contour so as to enhance the overall appearance of a package for a particular article. It is a simple expedient to take an extruded tube of the character illustrated in Figure 4, and sever successive sections therefrom to provide frame members for the various packages.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a new and novel Way ofpackaging, whereby even soft and highly yieldable articles may readily and easily as well as economically be packaged in the manner that only hard or rigid `articles could heretofore be packaged. Both the resultant package and theprocess are extremely Veconomical consistent with the attractive resultant appearance and the packaged articlev remains plainly visible at all timesand in its natural state.

It will be understoodthat modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope ofthe novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

The method of packaging which comprises placing an article including a crushable part upon'theuppersurface of a relatively rigid backing member having a foramnous marginal adhesive area, `circumscribing the article inwardly of said marginal areawith a circumferentially continuous wall extending away fromtsaid upper surface to a level above the extremities. ofthe article, placing a thermoplastic film ,over said wall, said article and said upper surface of said rigid backing member, applying a vacuum drawing force onlyto said foraminous marginal adhesive area, andengaging said lm against said wall and said .adhesive area, therebyA closing the top of said wall to form a complete closurefor the article and'with out crushing the article.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES 'PATENTS 2,102,508 Brooks Dec. 14, 1937 2,676,704 Marks Apr. 25,v 1954 2,705,071 Koehl Mar. 29, 1955 2,710,713 Slater June 14, 1955 2,750,719 .Wandelt --.Tune 19, 1956 2,784,539 Silver. Mar. 12, 1957 v2,855,735 .Grott,...... Oct. 14,. 1958 2,861,404 Stratton Nov.,25, A1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,152,475 France Feb. 15, l1958 

